Hailey Helps Carry Berrien Springs Once More, This Time to 1st Track Title
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
ADA – Don't ask Jamal Hailey to explain winning two MHSAA Finals titles without relying on his best effort.
Don't get Hailey wrong. The Berrien Springs senior is thrilled with not only winning Saturday's 100 and 200-meter dashes, but also helping his somewhat undermanned team to the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals championship at Forest Hills Eastern.
Hailey won the 100 with a time of 10.77, a fraction better than runner-up Ian Thompson (10.78) of Wayland. Hailey also took the 200 (22.11) over second-place Julian Bailey of Dearborn (22.25). Neither winning time was a personal best for Hailey, but he'll gladly take both his individual efforts, which resulted in 20 points. And with his inclusion on the winning 400 relay, the Western Michigan-bound Hailey was part of 30 of the team's 41 points – and nearly equaled the 33 points totaled by runner-up Forest Hills Eastern.
"I can't explain it," Hailey said. "It's preparation, being fortunate and knowing what I came here to do. I came here to win."
What is explainable is Hailey's value to a team which brought just 10 participants to the meet. Most track coaches are more comfortable with 15-20 potential point scorers, Berrien Springs coach Jon Rodriguez said. Hailey is also a standout football player who rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 33 touchdowns last fall.
The team championship was Berrien Springs' first in the sport, to go with runner-up finishes in 1953 and 2018.
"We had an idea we could win because Jamal is so special. He scores a lot of points for us," said Rodriguez, who finished up his 10th year as coach. "If we were healthy, we thought we had a chance to win. It all comes down to who can be best on that day. We were the best today."
Berrien Springs senior James York contributed a key first place in the long jump (22-10).
Three other Finals titles were grabbed by longtime friends Patrick Adams of Allendale and Sparta's Lance Riddle. The two seniors have competed back and forth against each other for at least the last six years and culminated in Riddle winning the 300 hurdles (39.28) and Adams capturing the 110 hurdles (14.73). Riddle was third to Adams in the 110 and Adams was only three tenths of a second behind in finishing second to Riddle in the 300.
Adams was the 2021 champ in the 110.
"I ran faster this year," said Adams, who will attend Cornerstone University next season. "But it was definitely more competitive. It's definitely tougher trying to win back-to-back. Me and Lance have been going at it since middle school, so I know him.
"I started kinda slow, but I just trusted my training and ran. The pressure got to me a little, so I just tried harder. Honestly, you just want to get to the finals; nothing is guaranteed in the hurdles. Getting to the final is what counts."
Spring Lake's Ian Hill won the 1,600 (4:16.99) after finishing third a year ago as a junior. Hill said there was one simple explanation for jumping two spots.
"Confidence," he said. "Last year I didn't really give myself a chance. I had a lot of confidence this year even though there are a lot of good runners here. But I was confident in my ability. I have all the respect for the other runners, but I have confidence.”
Even having to bounce back from the flu bug at midseason failed to dent Hill's' confidence. He also helped the 1,600 relay to a first place (3:23.78).
"I knew this would be close, but I thought I had as much a shot as anyone else," said Hill, who will attend Michigan next season. "I'm really happy to win this."
Other champs in the running events were senior Caleb Jarema of Pinckney, who won the 3,200 (9:17.36), and Stuart Gould of Howard City Tri County in the 400 (49.18). Aiden Sullivan of Forest Hills Eastern won the 800 (1:56.40). Whitehall won the 800 relay (1:29.73), while Holland Christian took first in the 3,200 (7:54.35)
Heading the field event winners was Alex Mansfield of Monroe Jefferson, who won the shot put (57-6). The Oakland University-bound Mansfield, who was also runner-up in the discus, said the title came despite some technique difficulties.
"I couldn't get the ball to throw; it kept slipping out of my fingers," he said. "But I got the job done; you still have to perform."
Edwardsburg senior Luke Stowasser successfully repeated in the high jump (6-8). He also won the long jump a year ago, but finished runner-up this time to Berrien Springs’ York.
"It was definitely a lot tougher, but I was more confident this year, which only pushed me to be better," Stowasser said.
Landon Cosby of Charlotte won the pole vault (15-9), while Dalton DeBeau of Frankenmuth took first in the discus (175-7).
Chelsea junior Jacob Nelson competed in one of the first-time adaptive events, in the 100 (33.19).
PHOTOS (Top) Berrien Springs’ Jamal Hailey (in green) crosses the finish first in the 400 relay Saturday, just ahead of Detroit Martin Luther King’s Terrence Brown to his right. (Middle) From left, Sparta’s Lance Riddle, Allendale’s Patrick Adams and King’s Teon Parks stride toward the finish of the 110 hurdles. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/Run Michigan.)
With Fast Fall Finish, Alpena's Day Arrives
April 13, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
ALPENA – Mitchell Day, who had a breakout second-place finish in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Final last November, is gearing up for what he hopes will be an equally strong track season.
The Alpena junior is one of the state’s top returning 3,200-meter runners. He finished 10th in LP Division 1 a year ago, and followed that up with a second-place finish at the Michigan Indoor Track Series state meet in late February.
“I feel very confident going into spring,” the 16-year-old said. “But I know there’s a lot of work to do, and I’m prepared to do it.”
Day started focusing on track during the winter with workouts designed to build base and improve strength. He said he hopes the results will translate into a faster, stronger kick.
Joe Donajkowski, who coaches the team’s distance runners, said Day is in a good spot, especially when it comes to his endurance.
“He knew he had to put the miles in to get better, and he’s certainly done that,” Donajkowski said. “He has a good base right now. I expect we’ll see some good performances from him throughout the season, as long as he stays healthy.”
Staying healthy is a key. An illness almost cost Day a spot in the MHSAA Final last June.
“I got sick a week or two before the Regional, and missed four or five days of training,” he said. “We were thinking it was walking pneumonia. Thankfully, it wasn’t, but I couldn’t train (properly). I remember the first mile went well, we went through at 4:40, then it hit me like a wall. I struggled to finish and qualify (for the championship meet).”
Day placed fifth at the Regional in 9:38.65, which earned him the 28th seed at the Final. Given time to recover, Day came back and ran nearly 17 seconds faster in a school record 9:21.76 to take 10th in LP Division 1.
That time came as no surprise to coach Bob Bennett, who called Day a “driven” athlete who once he focuses on a goal “gets after it.”
Day also runs the 1,600 meters, as well as relays, but it’s the 3,200 that he enjoys most.
“The 1,600 is too short for my liking,” he said. “The 3,200 gives me a little bit more time to wear out my opponents.”
Day was a dual-sport fall athlete as a freshman and sophomore, splitting his time playing varsity soccer and running cross country. He also played travel soccer during the summer.
But he decided to give up soccer to focus on running.
“We’re happy he went that way, although I don’t know if our athletic director/soccer coach (Tim Storch) was that happy about it,” Bennett said with a laugh.
Day won two of the three Big North Conference cross country jamborees, claimed the Regional, then took second at the MHSAA Final.
Despite that success, he was second team all-conference. In the third and final league jamboree, which counted 50 percent in the team and individual standings, Day was tripped and lost his balance with about a mile to go.
“I was already dealing with an Achilles problem, and I got hit in the Achilles,” he said.
Down he went – and he didn’t get up right away, which proved costly. He finished back in the pack.
“It was frustrating, but it (motivated) me heading into the state meet,” he said.
Day’s training for the Final went well, so well “we knew I was in for a huge PR,” he said.
Initially, Day was hoping to run close to 15:05, but the wind that day made for a slower race.
“The mile splits were 4:50, and then 5:03-5:05, and then back down to 4:47-4:49,” he said. “The wind played a huge factor. A lot of us had to just hide behind a few of the guys and wait for the last three-quarters of a mile to duke it out.”
When it came to the three-quarter mile mark, the lead pack had whittled to include Rockford’s Isaac Harding and Cole Johnson, Grand Rapids Northview’s Enael Woldemichael, Traverse City Central’s Anthony Berry and Day.
Sizing up the leaders, Day didn’t necessarily like his chances.
“Cole Johnson is a 4:10 miler, Anthony is a 4:08, Isaac’s outstanding, so is Enael,” he said. “I was surrounded by some really good talent and I was like, ‘Shoot, I don’t know if I can keep up with these guys the last 1,200 meters. I don’t know if I have that kind of kick in me.’”
Harding eventually surged, and Day went with him.
“I had another gear I didn’t know I had,” he said. “It was second nature to take off with him.”
Harding won in 15:10.4. Day was three seconds back.
“I was happy with how that turned out,” he said. “I realized there was more in me than what I had shown in the past.”
His time of 15:13.4 was 13 seconds faster than his previous best – and it’s helped attract more interest from college recruiters.
Now, Day’s attention is on track, as a lingering winter finally seems to be giving way to spring.
Alpena’s first meet, last week’s Freeland Invitational, was canceled, but once the season finally gets underway, Day said his goal will be fairly simple.
“I just want to make sure I give it my all,” he said. “I’ll be satisfied if I can do that. I don’t really have any times I would like to hit. Sure, I would like to PR, but it’s more about knowing that I put it all out there and had no regrets.”
Bennett expects nothing less from his star runner.
“We just want him to run as well as he can,” Bennett said. “Physically, he’s a little bigger, more mature. Mentally, he’s right on course. We’re hoping he’s going to have a breakout year.”
Just like he had in cross country.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Alpena’s Mitchell Day competes during the fall’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Day, far left, emerges from the pack during the 3,200-meter championship race at last spring’s MHSAA LP Division 1 Track & Field Final at Rockford. (Photos courtesy of the Day family.)